On October 16, Tennessee designers gathered in The Shade Store’s space within the Kravet showroom at the Nashville Design Collective for a morning of networking and lively conversation. Business of Home editor in chief Kaitlin Petersen moderated a panel discussion with local designers Chad James of Chad James Group, Laura Thurman of Thurman Design Studio and Jessica Stambaugh of JS Interiors.

In the wide-ranging conversation, the designers spoke about everything from their onboarding process and how they field inquiries for new projects to how they communicate their value and what success looks like to them. Attendees were able to learn from real-life experiences, pick up tricks of the trade, and see how their industry peers adapt strategies for their own practices. The discussion also touched upon educating designers on functional and technical aspects of window treatments, and how communication with clients prevents doubt. Then the guests enjoyed light bites while browsing the showroom, including the latest options for motorized window treatments from The Shade Store.

“Nashville is a growing market for The Shade Store, and we had such fun connecting with the local design community alongside our partners at Kravet and Business of Home,” said Kara Marmion, general manager of trade at The Shade Store. “We hosted this event after an intimate dinner with our panelists. It was two days of captivating conversations, networking, forging new connections and understanding new ways that we can work with designers in the Nashville market.”

“Kravet is excited to partner with The Shade Store in uniting the Nashville design community,” said Savannah Amerson, regional vice president of sales for Kravet. “We have great admiration for the talent, authenticity, creativity and diversity within this community, and are grateful to be part of it. We look forward to more opportunities to host creative leaders and insightful panels, continuing to inspire our industry with such strong partners. 

“I love how Jessica, Laura and Chad each offered a fresh perspective on how to communicate with clients in order to establish a strong foundation of trust. Setting the stage for a successful project from the start is often overlooked in the hurry to sign a client and get started—their insights showed how being intentional about onboarding can make a world of difference in a project’s outcome,” said Petersen. "It’s such a joy to partner with The Shade Store on events like this one, which foster the connection, community and conversations that are essential to drive the industry forward."

"What a fabulous opportunity to connect with fellow designers and share both our experience, and ways to elevate our businesses,” said Thurman. “I've always believed this industry is so much stronger together than apart. I'm grateful to BOH and the fabulous Kaitlin for allowing me to share a small piece of my journey. The Shade Store is a favorite of ours, we have done many projects together. Cheers to building one another up, sharing genuine honest advice, and encouraging one to love this business called interior design."

“A theme throughout the conversation was analyzing the early phases of client engagement and onboarding, and how Chad, Laura and I each tell the story about our respective firms and process in those early talks,” said Stambaugh. “Even though our firms are quite different, there were shared takeaways, like the importance of a direct and candid approach to getting to know the prospective client, sending introduction documents and talking budget early in the process. It was also interesting to discuss how window treatments are best approached as early as possible in the design process, to understand the feasibility of certain styles and our client’s functional requirements—whether working with the architect on design details that allow for optimal installation, or analyzing the possibilities and limitations of existing architecture, in order to appropriately budget and set client expectations. For example when a client wants blackout, do they want pitch darkness or can they tolerate light gaps? What styles could create this with the architecture? It’s best to have these conversations on the outset.”